Crescent Flower
Once the wing is planted the bird’s a seed
wind won’t carry
flight a matter of how roots push the body
forward
here little husk here little pupa
a silhouette
for your cell wall imago thrust along the stalk
soon the bone will run dry
the well regurgitate its bellyache of coins
up
runs the flagpole
out furls the diaphanous marginalia flutter
little cilia
seek the edges of the slide
the wing is a mile marker the feather a scale
without an inch
to give
weigh the balance against the grassblade
that sinks up through the iris
About The Writer James Maughn started A New Cadence Poetry Series in 2009. He teaches at Cabrillo College and is a practitioner of karate.
The Outdoor Poet is edited by Robert Sward, author of numerous books of poetry including, most recently, New and Selected Poems: 1957-2011 (Red Hen Press). He lives on the Westside with his wife, the artist Gloria Alford, and a poodle mix named Cosette. Participation in The Outdoor Poet is by invitation.
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